An employee walking along a thermal pipe at the Kamojang geothermal
power plant near Garut, West Java, on March 18. State utility provider
 Perusahaan Listrik Negara is targeting an additional 135 megawatts of
electricity from three new geothermal plants. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta)
 

"Update on Current Events" – Jul 23, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: God, Gaia, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Benevolent Design, Financial Institutes (Recession, System to Change ...), Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Nuclear Power Revealed, Geothermal Power, Hydro Power, Drinking Water from Seawater, No need for Oil as Much, Middle East in Peace, Persia/Iran Uprising, Muhammad, Israel, DNA, Two Dictators to fall soon, Africa, China, (Old) Souls, Species to go, Whales to Humans, Global Unity,.. etc.)
"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“.. Nuclear Power Revealed

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time. …”

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Revisiting local architecture after disasters

The Jakarta Post

It has been a more than year since the earth shook for 58 seconds in Central Java, shattering thousands of lives in the province and Yogyakarta.

Many people were killed or seriously injured by falling brick walls in their own homes, which had been built with traditional techniques and did not have the engineering necessary to withstand an earthquake.

After more than a year of reconstruction, residents are slowly getting back on their feet. Most of the new houses were constructed collectively by local communities, under the supervision of students, foreign consultants, architects and engineers.

A lot of the built houses used a design provided by local government through their free building permit program, while other housing types were a result of new construction techniques.

Eko Prawoto was one of the many architects that were involved in the reconstruction effort. His design was driven merely to save costs and try to salvage as many building materials as possible from the former houses.

Distributed funds from the government were barely enough to build the core houses, so Eko designed the basic structure and roofing system, derived from traditional pitch roof form, while the rest of the houses were enclosed by salvaged materials. Consequently, each of his houses is personalized and has its own distinct characteristics generated by variations in door and window components.

The reconstruction effort can also be seen as an opportunity to introduce a new construction system that is more robust and resistant to earthquakes. Holcim Indonesia, through its Solusi Rumah program, introduced their new interlocking concrete brick system, which radically reduces wood usage for concrete formworks and speeds up the construction process. The system was widely used to build public facilities such as schools, community centers, public bathrooms and even small housing projects.

While the system simplifies the construction technique, Holcim Indonesia provided an extensive training program for construction workers in order to be assured of its correct application. The modular concrete brick system requires the building to be designed in specific 15 x 15 centimeter modules to maintain its effectiveness and is easily adapted to local house design.

However, not all the houses built within the relief effort were designed to blend with vernacular architectural values. The new housing complex built by the Domes for the World group went in a completely different direction. The houses are constructed in a dome form, similar to the igloos of the Inuit, and are equipped with conventional door and window systems and also skylight to allow natural interior illumination.

Although the geometry of the dome is structurally robust for earthquake resistance, these domes do not accommodate the key parameters for tropical housing design, where the openings need to be fully shaded, and a ventilated roof. Complaints from the present tenants about higher indoor temperature are predictable. On top of that, the whole dome complex appears peculiar and unrelated to the adjacent traditional house design.

On the whole, providing new homes in a recovery effort is always a complex issue. There is no such thing as a single solution. Houses have to be designed with local considerations and adaptable for customization or personalization. Community-based participation in most reconstruction effort plays a key role so that the new houses can be accepted and satisfy the beneficiaries.

|Zenin Adrian can be reached at zenin.adrian@zadl.net

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